my maid of honor speech for my sisters wedding!
14 years ago
Monday, December 1, 2008
It's a Flood!
"The Miller's Tale" is the most notorious of all the Canterbury Tales because of its witty humor, clever characters, and its debauchery and crudeness. As Max, Molly, Abdallah and Alyssa discussed during their presentation, the Miller gets away with his very inappropriate tale by using his drunkenness as an excuse (although his drunkenness is questionable -- his tale is logical AND he has managed to stay securely on his horse) and because of his lowly social standing. Based on the tales you have read, does "The Miller's Tale" deserve it notoriety? How did you react to its plot and cast of characters -- were you appalled (like the Knight), offended (like the Reeve), or laughing your "arse" off?
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I think that the Miller's Tale's position as the most notorious tale is accurate. The blatant use of naked arses and the use of biblical stories (Noah's Ark) as an excuse to go off and have sex makes it pretty notorious. I dont know if it deserves the title of being a great work of literature, if that is what this post is about. To truly answer this question we would have to define good literature (CAPT, nooooooo!) but I dont want to do that. Therefore, I am just going to continue. Mainly i think that the Miller's Tale served a comic and possibly satirical purpose. Obviously it was used to develop the entire Canterbury Tales work by providing grounds for retalition for the Reeve. Ummm, i would say that i was a little of all the reactions, a little appalled, a little offended, and i laughed a little bit...
It is really difficult to say that a work doesnt deserve notoriety when it has been doing so for hundreds of years. Writing about arses, sex, adultery...Im not sure where Chaucer came up with this idea... but in terms of plot i see this tale as a little inappropriate, but also funny at the same time (?)
The tale is definitely unique and memorable...
Actually, the Miller's tale left me awestruck when I first read it. Throughout my past English classes, I've never quite experienced "literature" in such a debaucherous and sexual manner. However, I believe that Chaucer very much accurately depicted the bawdiness of the period. So, even though I felt the plot was inappropriate in a lot of ways, I actually laughed a lot while I was reading it. This shows that Chaucer was successful in satirizing religion. The Canterbury Tales is a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas Becket, yet, most of these tales, especially the Miller's tale, proves to be extremely "non-religious".
What great literature doesn't go against the conformity of "what good literature should be like"? Mark Twain's continuous use of the word "nigger" in Huckleberry Finn alone set off huge debates. The humor that Chaucer presents to his readers personalized his tales. On another level, with the Knight feeling offended essentially shows the different social classes of the period, and the Canterbury Tales sought to provide accurate depictions of all levels of society and in essence satirized a lot of the social classes. The Miller was the first member of the working class, yet he was a drunk and a thief.
Ai-Tram I know what you mean when the miller's tale seemed really different compared to other works of literature we have read, but it does stand out in that way. I think the tale deserves to be recognized in a postive way because it is actually quite clever. Chaucer intended to satarize the medieval society, and the miller's tale does so in many ways-of course it satarizes religion making Absalom the religious figure that sings to Alison below her window when she is already married truly shows the low value of religion and marriage during the time period. What stands out to me is that the miller is also a drunken man who is using the tale to make fun of the reeve. While he is satarizing society he is actually part of society's flaws too because he is always drunk. The miller's tale is also significant because it connects the flaws of the medieval society to today's society. It proves that societies, in any period of time, connect to eachother because of common human flaws or beliefs. Religion was not always taken seriously in the medieval period, it certainly is not taken as seriously today either. Marriage is seen as more of a game than a true holy commitment as well. Also, social reputation was a common theme in the medieval period-John's reputation was ruined forever in the tale, and today one's reputation is usually imporatant to sustain as well. Therefore, the miller's tale is not only funny but it proves that society's connect through human nature in any time period.
I think Denise really hit the nail on the head. I'm always impressed with the Miller's Tale because it demonstrates a fine balance between humorous debauchery and intellect on behalf of the miller (well, mainly Chaucer). Despite the miller's drunken behaviors, his tale reveals so much about humanity -- the hypocrisy of the Church, human temptations and desires, and the fickleness of "love" -- without being "preachy" or boring. The reeve's tale, on the other hand, doesn't make me laugh and doesn't make me reflect about humanity...other than to cringe at it. Am I being too judgmental?
I was also surprised by the literature of The Miller's Tale the first time I read it. I mean to read something so bawdy and scandalous for an Engish class was not normal for me. However i do have to say that it did make me laugh more than be appauled or offended. I believe it did that because that was the purpose Chaucer had for writing the tale; to satarize religion and medieval society. I mean it was clearly shown through the fact that the miller came up with potraying Absalom as this very courtly love character, but in the end everything that Absolom did to try to get Alison didn't work, which clearly showed us the satire of that situation. Plus, the fact that Absalom was suppose to be the most religious character in the tale, however, it was he who was trying to woo a married woman. The tale as a whole was very clever because unlike many of the other tales there weren't crimes involved, like rape, or any real harm done, it was meant as just an entertainment. Therefore, you could say I did laugh my "arse" off because that was exactly what the tale was meant to do.
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